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Canada’s Richest People 2016: The Top 25 Richest Canadians

4. Rogers Family

Total Net Worth: $8.86 billion

Change from last year:▲ 20%

Smart moves at Rogers Communications lifted its share price this year and boosted the founding family’s fortunes in the process. The company impressed investors by negotiating a complex $465-million deal for rival Mobilicity, while acquiring unused wireless spectrum from Shaw in the process. The success of the Rogers-owned Toronto Blue Jays boosted the company further. Chief exec Guy Laurence currently leads the firm, but Loretta, Edward, Melinda and Martha Rogers all remain active board members.

1. Canada’s Richest People: The Top 25

In our 17th annual report on the richest people in Canada, we celebrate both the upper-crust establishment figures who dominate the society pages and the self-starters who built their empires from scratch (and are busily dismantling the ones that came before).

2. 25. Frank Stronach

Frank Stronach (Alexander Klein/AFP/Getty)

Total Net Worth: $3 billion

Change from last year:▲ 2%

Even in his retirement, the former CEO of automotive parts manufacturer Magna can’t seem to relax. After his unsuccessful political campaign in his country of birth, Frank Stronach now owns and operates a cattle ranch in Florida, and he’s reportedly expanding into poultry, but his plan to build a slaughterhouse for free-range chickens has been met with resistance from locals.

3. 24. David Cheriton

David Cheriton (Martin Dee/UBC)

Total Net Worth: $3.05 billion

Change from last year:▲ 5%

This full-time Stanford computer science academic made his initial billion by writing Google its first cheque—$100,000 in 1998. He used the money he made to invest in various technology startups, including his own, Arista Networks, which he co-founded in 2004. It went public in 2014, resulting in another huge payday for the professor.

4. 23. Fred & Ron Mannix

Ron Mannix (Jeff McIntosh/CP)

Total Net Worth: $3.06 billion

Change from last year:▼ 10%

At a luncheon in his honour this year, Ron Mannix gave a rallying speech to downcast Calgary business leaders. “We all know about the stresses that are going on in this city at $40-a-barrel oil,” he said as he accepted the Distinguished Business Leader Award from the Calgary Chamber of Commerce and the Haskayne School of Business. He emphasized that it is especially important now that ethical people do not set aside their principles to “cheat, manipulate or hurt other people.” Over more than a century, the Mannixes have endured their share of booms and busts. But having divested most of the family’s fossil fuel assets in the late 1990s to set up private conglomerate Coril Holdings Ltd., Ron may not have been feeling the same pain as those in the audience.

5. 22. Bob & Tom Gaglardi

Tom Gaglardi (Tony Gutierrez/AP)

Total Net Worth: $3.10 billion

Change from last year:▲ 20%

Patriarch Bob and son Tom run the Gaglardi family business, Northland Properties, which owns and operates hotels (Sandman, Sutton Place) and restaurants (Denny’s, Moxie’s) across the country. Vertical integration is key to the company’s success: It buys, builds and operates its own properties. It was a good year for the family, which benefited from a weak Canadian dollar, low interest rates and strength in its strong hotel business. Northland also owns the Dallas Stars NHL team and, at the Western Hockey League level, the Kamloops Blazers.

6. 21. Sobey Family

Paul Sobey, right, with Zoe Hayes (Dan Callis/Arthritis Society)

Total Net Worth: $3.19 billion

Change from last year:▲ 7%

The Sobey family has retreated from the front lines of the grocery chain that bears its name: Paul Sobey stepped down as CEO of the Empire Co. at the end of 2013, and David and Donald Sobey retired from the board this year. The company’s purchase of Safeway two years ago hasn’t gone smoothly, thwarted by software integration problems, and the company expanded its reach in Western Canada just as oil prices collapsed to dampen consumer spending.

7. 20. Mark Scheinberg

Mark, left, and Isai Scheinberg (PokerStars)

Total Net Worth: $3.24 billion

Change from last year:none

Mark Scheinberg’s father, Isai, founded PokerStars in Toronto in 2001, when the online gaming industry was still nascent. In 2006, as the American government started to crack down on online gaming, his competitors began to drop out. But Isai kept servicing U.S. players—a move that landed the company in considerable legal trouble, which eventually ended in a $731-million settlement with the Department of Justice. (A criminal indictment is still outstanding for Isai.) The Scheinbergs cashed out last year, however, and sold the company to Amaya Gaming for $4.9 billion. By the time of the sale, Mark was the majority owner in PokerStars’ parent company.

8. 19. Aquilini family

Francesco Aquilini (Jonathan Hayward/CP)

Total Net Worth: $3.31 billion

Change from last year:▲ 18%

Staying rich, and getting richer, sometimes requires burying the hatchet, which is what the Aquilinis appear to have done with that other billionaire Italian-Canadian developer clan in Vancouver, the Gaglardis. Just six years ago family frontman Francesco Aquilini was embroiled in a bitter lawsuit with Tom Gaglardi and construction tycoon Ryan Beedie, who bothclaimed they’d been wrongfully jilted out of a deal to purchase the Vancouver Canucks from Seattle cellphone magnate John McCaw. Aquilini prevailed in court, and Gaglardi was offered a consolation prize from NHL commissioner Gary Bettman in the form of the Dallas Stars in 2011. Fast-forward to today, and the Aquilini Investment Group stands shoulder to shoulder with Gaglardi’s Northland Properties in a joint venture to build the $5.2-billion Garibaldi at Squamish resort, which would be the first greenfield ski hill built in Canada since 1980.

9. 18. Harrison McCain family

Harrison McCain (Bob Wilson/CP)

Total Net Worth: $3.53 billion

Change from last year:▼ 7%

This half of the McCain dynasty continues to run a profitable multinational frozen foods empire. Its international reach means it has not been immune to the Greek debt crisis. The world’s largest producer of frozen french fries launched a corporate social responsibility program to help farmers in northern Greece.

10. 17. Estate of Wallace McCain

Wallace McCain (Moe Doiron/CP)

Total Net Worth: $3.55 billion

Change from last year:▼ 3%

The McCain family has a well-documented history of infighting. Wallace McCain was exiled from McCain Foods after a family disagreement, leading him to found Maple Leaf Foods. That company, one of Canada’s biggest meat processors, is currently under the stewardship of Wallace’s son, Michael. The company is slowly returning to profitability as it nears the end of a major restructuring plan.

11. 16. Alain Bouchard

Alain Bouchard (Mario Beauregard/CP)

Total Net Worth: $3.89 billion

Change from last year:▲ 55%

Letting go is hard to do—just ask Alain Bouchard. Less than a year after retiring as CEO of convenience store giant Alimentation Couche-Tard, the executive chairman, along with his three co-founders, put forward a resolution to extend their time-limited voting control—the group holds 22% of the company’s equity—to ward off any future takeover attempts. To Bouchard’s admitted shock, proxies indicated support for the plan was well below the 67% required to pass, and the resolution was withdrawn. It may not matter. With a market capitalization north of $30 billion, Couche-Tard makes a hard target. And with the synergies expected to flow from its consolidation of its various brands under the Circle K moniker, it’ll get harder still.

12. 15. Estate of David Azrieli

Naomi Azrieli (Fred Lum/Globe and Mail/CP)

Total Net Worth: $3.92 billion

Change from last year:▲ 25%

David Azrieli built a vast real estate empire out of nothing after fleeing Nazi persecution in Poland. Although he died in 2014, his interest in Holocaust education and Jewish cultural preservation lives on through the Azrieli Foundation, administered by daughter Naomi.

13. 14. Daryl Katz

Daryl Katz (Jimmy Jeong/CP)

Total Net Worth: $4.14 billion

Change from last year:▲ 15%

Daryl Katz is the founder and chairman of the Katz Group of Cos., with businesses in pharmacy, real estate development, and sports and entertainment. He owns and operates the Rexall chain of pharmacies, which has 460 locations across Central and Western Canada. Katz also owns the Edmonton Oilers and is currently building a new $480-million arena, the centerpiece of a $6-billion downtown development project. This past spring, Katz announced he’s going into the movie business. His newest company, Silver Pictures Entertainment, is a partnership with veteran producer Joel Silver to produce and finance feature films, television and digital content.

14. 13. Bernard “Barry” Sherman

Bernard “Barry” Sherman (Dick Loek/Getty)

Total Net Worth: $4.16 billion

Change from last year:▲ 19%

It was a challenging year for Bernard (Barry) Sherman. The chairman of Apotex, the largest producer of generic drugs in Canada, was embroiled in an 11-month political and media firestorm after Health Canada banned imports from Apotex’s two factories in India. An investigation revealed widespread problems at the facilities. But in October, a judge ruled that then Conservative health minister Rona Ambrose acted improperly by imposing the ban on Apotex and that there were no serious health risks at the plants. It probably comes as no surprise that Sherman threw his support behind the Liberals during the recent federal election campaign.

15. 12. Carlo Fidani

Carlo Fidani (Chris Young/CP)

Total Net Worth: $4.84 billion

Change from last year:▲ 6%

Third-generation construction magnate and avid NASCAR enthusiast Carlo Fidani is one of Canada’s leading landlords of commercial and industrial properties. When he brokers a deal, it’s massive—like the $500-million sale of Toronto’s Bayview Village shopping complex to the B.C. Investment Management Corp. in 2014. But he’s also happy to give money away, particularly to medical- and health-related causes. This year, Orlando Corp. launched a gift-matching initiative that will see it donate up to $15 million to William Osler Health System’s three hospital sites in the Toronto area.

16. 11. Jeff Skoll

Jeff Skoll (Steve Jennings/Getty)

Total Net Worth: $5.22 billion

Change from last year:▲ 4%

The former president of eBay is now a successful entertainment mogul. In 2014, he founded Participant Media, a production company that finances and produces social-issue films and documentaries. By the end of its second year, Participant’s films had been nominated for 11 Academy Awards. Notable films include An Inconvenient Truth, Syriana, Charlie Wilson’s War and The Help. He’s currently talking to Steven Spielberg about combining Participant with Spielberg’s DreamWorks Studios. Outside business, Skoll is also a generous philanthropist who has given $1 billion of eBay stock to his social entrepreneurship organization, Skoll Foundation, since its establishment in 1999.

17. 10. Richardson Family

Hartley Richardson (John Woods/CP)

Total Net Worth: $5.63 billion

Change from last year:▲ 12%

James Richardson & Sons Ltd. is living proof that you can run a commodity-based enterprise for the long term—try 158 years and counting. During the Great Depression, it ventured into financial services (now wealth manager Richardson GMP). When its original line of business (grain handling and trading) looked threatened by drought a decade ago, the private family firm bought more grain depots and loading facilities. In characteristic fashion, the company—led by fifth-generation president and CEO Hartley Richardson—bulked up its Tundra Oil & Gas subsidiary this year, buying 550 wells in its home province of Manitoba from a retreating American operator, EOG Resources. See the pattern?

18. 9. Estate of Paul Demarais Sr.

Paul Demarais Sr. (Chuck Mitchell/CP)

Total Net Worth: $6.10 billion

Change from last year:▲ 9%

The late Paul Desmarais was one of the great empire builders of the Canadian business world. He started with a nearly bankrupt transportation company that belonged to his grandfather and expanded into other lines of business. Those assets were eventually consolidated under Power Corp., an international financial services conglomerate that includes Great-West Lifeco and IGM Financial. Desmarais passed away in 2013 at the age of 86, and his two sons, Paul Jr. and André, run the operation today. The pair is looking to the future of financial services, investing $10 million this year (with the option to invest $20 million) into online financial advisory startup Wealthsimple. Earlier this year, Power Corp. raised its dividend, the first increase since 2008.

19. 8. Saputo Family

Lino Saputo Jr. (Erik Putz)

Total Net Worth: $6.43 billion

Change from last year:▲ 3%

With $500 and a bicycle to make deliveries, Giuseppe Saputo founded the eponymous dairy company in Montreal in 1954. His grandchildren run the $12-billion multinational corporation today, which is one of the top 10 dairy producers in the world. Saputo’s growth strategy stresses patience: CEO Lino Saputo Jr. waited 12 years for the opportunity to snap up one of the biggest dairy operations in Australia in 2014.

20. 7. James “Jimmy” Pattison

James “Jimmy” Pattison (Edward Regan/Globe and Mail/CP)

Total Net Worth: $6.89 billion

Change from last year:▼ 12%

Known in Vancouver as the man who rescued Expo 86 and helped get the 2010 Olympic bid over the finish line, Jim Pattison was called upon again in 2015, this time by Metro Vancouver mayors trying to promote a 0.5% sales tax to pay for road and transit improvements. Alas, the 86-year-old wasn’t able to work his magic for a third time—it was voted down in a referendum.

21. 6. Joseph Tsai

Joseph Tsai (ChinaFotoPress/Getty)

Total Net Worth: $7.30 billion

New for 2016!

Joseph Tsai is the right-hand man of Alibaba founder Jack Ma. In 1999, Tsai quit his $700,000-a-year job at the Swedish investment firm Investor AB to work for a small startup in Ma’s apartment for free. He graduated with a law degree from Yale and worked in private equity before meeting Ma. Tsai served as Alibaba’s chief financial officer for more than a decade and then became its vice-chairman in 2013. While Ma is Alibaba’s visionary, Tsai is the guy who stays up till 4:30 a.m. to turn those visions into reality. He was instrumental in getting early funding for the e-commerce juggernaut, and he negotiated several acquisitions in quick succession.

22. 5. Irving Family

From left: James, Arthur and John Irving (Peter Power/Globe and Mail/CP)

Total Net Worth: $7.50 billion

Change from last year:▼ 9%

Kenneth C. Irving built an old-fashioned vertically integrated conglomerate through timely acquisitions, and his sons grew it further. But the interwoven network of board seats and purchasing contracts has unravelled in recent years, and each branch of the family now controls a distinct line of business. A fourth generation of this Atlantic Canadian clan is now firmly in charge. Jim Irving runs the forestry business and the shipbuilding arm, which will build the navy’s new Arctic offshore patrol boats, while Sarah Irving has just been installed on the executive team of Irving Oil, which is undertaking a $200-million maintenance project at its Saint John refinery.

23. 4. Rogers Family

Edward S. Rogers (Deborah Baic/Globe and Mail/CP)

Total Net Worth: $8.86 billion

Change from last year:▲ 20%

Smart moves at Rogers Communications lifted its share price this year and boosted the founding family’s fortunes in the process. The company impressed investors by negotiating a complex $465-million deal for rival Mobilicity, while acquiring unused wireless spectrum from Shaw in the process. The success of the Rogers-owned Toronto Blue Jays boosted the company further. Chief exec Guy Laurence currently leads the firm, but Loretta, Edward, Melinda and Martha Rogers all remain active board members.

24. 3. Garrett Camp

Garrett Camp (Jefferson Graham/CP)

Total Net Worth: $9.18 billion

NEW for 2016!

It was a snowy night in Paris in 2008, when Garrett Camp and his friend Travis Kalanick struggled to get a cab. Most would simply moan about the inconvenience and continue shivering in the cold, but Camp and Kalanick instead started dreaming up ways to fix the problem. Camp’s solution: Order a car with the push of a button on your phone. The two fleshed out the idea further, and when Camp got back to his adopted home city, San Francisco, he registered the company’s first domain name, UberCab. It is now on its way to becoming a verb (“I’ll Uber there”) and its valuation is close to US$70 billion.

25. 2. Galen Weston

Galen Weston (Nathan Denette/CP)

Total Net Worth: $13.67 billion

Change from last year: ▲ 20%

Galen Weston may no longer have an active role in the day-to-day operations of the family business, but he isn’t ready to retire, either. The industrious 74-year-old continues to chair George Weston Ltd., the food-processing and distribution company founded by his grandfather in 1882. He also owns a portfolio of high-end department stores, which includes Selfridges and Holt Renfrew. Weston has been well-served over the years, but his company faces new competition from Nordstrom, as the U.S. retailer slowly expands into Canada.

26. 1. Thomson Family

David Thomson (Frank Gunn/CP)

Total Net Worth: $36.76 billion

Change from last year: ▲ 20%

If you want to tap into one of the fastest-growing economies in the world, it pays to have powerful friends. David Thomson clearly understands this. Over the past few years, the chairman of Thomson Reuters has been forging a friendship with Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the prime minister and ruler of Dubai, and one of the most influential leaders in the Middle East. It could be a lucrative relationship that will open the door for Thomson Reuters to expand in the region. As the third annual Global Islamic Economy Summit convened in Dubai this year, Thomson was seated centre stage next to Sheikh Mohammed. Gains at Thomson Reuters were a significant factor in the $6-billion bump the family saw in their collective net worth over the past year.

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